HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Max Osceola, Jr., who was a former chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s council and represented the Hollywood Seminole Reservation, died on Thursday of COVID-19, the tribe announced on Friday. He was 70.
The beloved grandfather, who contributed to the expansion of the tribe’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and was passionate about motorcycles and Miami Hurricanes football, died at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, according to Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the tribe.
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“He was perhaps best known for his smile, infectious laugh and constant barrage of quips and one-liners, often referring to ‘BC’ as the time ‘before casinos’ at the Seminole Tribe,” Bitner said in a statement. “His wife, Marge, said Max’s Seminole name translates to ‘storyteller,’ a name he lived up to throughout his life.”
Osceola was born in 1950 in Hollywood where he graduated from McArthur High School. He played football for the University of Tampa and the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College before attending the University of Miami.
Osceola was a Tribal Council representative from 1985 to 2010. He also acted as an ambassador of the Seminole Tribe and was a supporter of the Boys and Girls Clubs, Ann Storck Center, Winterfest and the Victory Junction Camp.
Chris Osceola, a Tribal Council representative for the Hollywood Seminole Reservation who is not a relative, described him as a modern-day warrior and a true legend.
“He will forever be embedded in our hearts and the history of the Seminole Tribe,” Chris Osceola said in a statement. “He was my friend and mentor and I will miss him dearly."